Week 13 of the Fantasy Baseball season is here. I have my usual 2000 words worth of Interleague matchups, bullpen news, starting pitching waiver wire and streaming options and of course position player waiver wire options for you to consider this week.
Interleague Matchups
Minnesota Twins at Cincinnati Reds (3 games, Monday-Wednesday)
Colorado Rockies at Oakland Athletics (3 games, Monday-Wednesday)
Chicago White Sox at St. Louis Cardinals (2 games, Tuesday-Wednesday)
Seattle Mariners at San Diego Padres (2 games, Tuesday-Wednesday)
Pittsburgh Pirates at Detroit Tigers (3 games, Tuesday-Thursday)
Cleveland Indians at Pittsburgh Pirates (3 games, Friday-Sunday)
Bullpen Report for Week 13
The Toronto Blue Jays finally made it official and demoted closer Brett Cecil. Now the widely available Roberto Osuna is doing the closing for the Jays. Osuna has a season long ERA of 2.10, WHIP of 1.09 with 40 strikeouts, nine walks and 1 bomb in 40 innings pitched.
Two Start Pitchers for Week 13
Sonny Gray (Tue-Sun), Cole Hamels (Tue-Sun), Gerrit Cole (Tue-Sun), Shelby Miller (Tue-Sun), Jordan Zimmerman (Tue-Sun), Danny Salazar (Mon-Sat), Carlos Carrasco (Tue-Sun), Bartolo Colon (Tue-Sun), C. J. Wilson (Mon-Sun), Clay Buchholz (Mon-Sat), Rubby De la Rosa (Tue-Sun), Phil Hughes (Tue-Sun), Miguel Gonzales (Tue-Sun), Nathan Karns (Mon-Sat), Jimmy Nelson (Mon-Sat), Mike Leake (Mon-Sun), Colby Lewis (Tue-Sun), Ian Kennedy (Tue-Sun), Mat Latos (Tue-Sun), Lance McCullers (Mon-Sun), Kyle Hendricks (Tue-Sun), Jaime Garcia (Tue-Sun), Danny Duffy (Mon-Sat), Wandy Rodriguez (Mon-Sat), Mike Bolsinger (Mon-Sun), Mike Pelfrey (Mon-Sat), Marco Estrada (Mon-Sat), Jorge De La Rosa (Tue-Sun), Ryan Vogelsong (Tue-Sun), Justin Verlander (Tue-Sun), Erasmo Ramirez (Tue-Sun), Kendall Graveman (Mon-Sat), Bud Norris (Mon-Sat), Eduardo Rodriguez (Tue-Sun), David Hale (Mon-Sat), Allen Webster (Mon-Sat), Sean O'Sullivan (Mon-Sat), Mike Montgomery (Tue-Sun) and Taylor Jungmann (Tue-Sun).
Starting Pitcher Waiver Wire Options for Week 13
The following starting pitching options are available in more than 50 percent of all Major Fantasy Baseball leagues.
Jesse Chavez Oakland Athletics: Chavez has a Friday home start against the Seattle Mariners. Over his past 3 starts Chavez has posted a 4.26 ERA, 1.21 WHIP with 17 strikeouts, 5 walks and 2 bombs over 19 innings pitched. He's also 2-0 over those three starts. Good .302 BABIP with a 2.93 FIP and 3.54 xFIP. He faces a Mariners team with a road slash line of .226/.289/.379/.667 with a wOBA of .306, wRC+ of 92 and a 18 percent strikeout rate. This is a very good matchup on Friday.
Marco Estrada Toronto Blue Jays: Estrada has a Tuesday home start against Boston and a Sunday home start against the Tigers. Over his past 3 starts Estrada has a 2.61 ERA, 0.82 WHIP with 19 strikeouts, 7 walks and 1 bomb over 20.7 innings pitched. He's also 2-0 during that stretch. Good .243 BABIP and decent 3.83 FIP and xFIP of 4.23. On Tuesday Estrada faces a Red Sox team with a road slash line of .238/.309/.363/.672, wOBA of .299, wRC+ of 87 and a 22 percent strikeout rate. The Tigers on Sunday might be a tough one; they have a road slash line of .263/.327/.404/.731 and a 20 percent strikeout rate. Tuesday is the better day to use Estrada.
Nathan Karns Tampa Bay Rays: Karns has a Monday home start against the Indians and a Friday away start against the Yankees. Over his past 3 starts he's posted an ERA of 1.04, 1.21 WHIP with 17 strikeouts, 5 walks and zero bombs over 17.3 innings pitched. He was 1-0 over those three starts. Very strong .261 BABIP and decent 3.84 FIP and xFIP of 3.91. The Indians slash a .247/.315/.392/.708 line with a wOBA of .312 and wRC+ of 96 with a 19 percent strikeout rate. The Yankees at home slash a .282/.350/.496/.846 line with a .337 wOBA and wRC+ of 108 to go along with a 18 percent strikeout rate. Monday against the Indians should be good to go but you might want to look elsewhere on Saturday.
Anthony DeSclafani Cincinnati Reds: DeSclafani has a Tuesday home start against the Twins this week. Over his past three starts DeSclafani has posted a 2.60 ERA, 1.33 WHIP with 13 strikeouts, 7 walks and 1 bomb over 17.3 innings pitched. He was 0-1 over the last three starts. Very good .277 BABIP to go along with a decent 3.71 FIP and sort of high 4.53 xFIP. The Twins have a road slash line of .219/.277/.345/.622 with a wOBA of .299, road strikeout rate of 24 percent and wRC+ of 87. DeSclafani is about as good as it gets on Tuesday night.
Mike Montgomery Seattle Mariners: Montgomery has a Tuesday road start in San Diego and a Sunday road game against Oakland. Over his past 3 starts he's posted a 2.01 ERA, 1.03 WHIP with 15 strikeouts, 5 walks and zero bombs over 22.3 innings pitched. He was 2-1 during those three starts. Excellent .234 BABIP, great 2.99 FIP and not so great xFIP of 4.17. The Padres slash a home line of .241/.290/.365/.655 with a wOBA of .291, strikeout 21 percent of the time and their wRC+ is 90. The Athletics home slash line of .270/.329/.403/.732 with their wOBA of .338. wRC+ of 120 and less than 15 percent strikeout rate at home is just plain crazy. Go with Montgomery on Tuesday but you might want to pass on the A's at home on Sunday.
Robbie Ray Arizona Diamondbacks: Ray has just a Wednesday start against the Dodgers at home. Over his past 3 starts Ray has posted a 2.41 ERA, 0.91 WHIP with 15 strikeouts, 4 walks and 1 bomb over 18.7 innings pitched. He was 1-2 during those 3 starts. His 3.11 FIP and xFIP of 4.04 is decent and his .252 BABIP is quite impressive. On the road the Dodgers slash a .242/.328/.408/.736 line with a wOBA of .330, wRC+ of 108 and strikeout rate of 19 percent. Ray should be good to go against the Dodgers on Wednesday night.
Jimmy Nelson Milwaukee Brewers: Nelson has a Monday road start against the Phillies and Saturday road start against the Reds. Over his past three starts he's posted a 5.50 ERA, 1.56 WHIP with 8 strikeouts, 5 walks and 3 bombs in 18 innings pitched. He also was 1-2 during those starts. His FIP of 4.34 and xFIP of 4.05 aren't bad and his .285 BABIP is also good. The Phillies at home have a slash line of .236/.287/.367/.654 with a wOBA of .297, strikeout rate of 22 percent and a wRC+ of 84. The Reds on the road slash a .242/.304/.374/.678 line with a 20 percent strikeout rate, wOBA of .284 and wRC+ of 76. I think I would use Nelson twice this week.
Starting Pitching Streaming Options for Week 13
In addition to the above starting pitching options the following options could also be considered for Monday through Wednesday. Each of these options is available in more than 50 percent of all Major Fantasy Baseball leagues.
Monday: Kendall Graveman Oakland A's: Over his past three starts Graveman has posted a 2.05 ERA, 1.09 WHIP with 17 strikeouts, 3 walks and 3 bombs over 22 innings pitched. He was 1-2 during these 3 starts. Average .302 BABIP and 4.60 FIP with a much better xFIP of 4.28. Graveman is at home against the Rockies who slash a road line of .242/.287/.398/.685 line with a strikeout rate of 21 percent to go along with a wOBA of .304 and a wRC+ of 89. Graveman should stuff the stat sheet on Monday.
Tuesday: Jorge De La Rosa Colorado Rockies: Over his past three starts De La Rosa has posted a 4.24 ERA, WHIP of 1.71 with 11 strikeouts, 10 walks and 2 bombs over 17 innings pitched. De La Rosa was 1-1 during these 3 starts. BABIP of .313 to go along with a 4.18 FIP and xFIP 3.97. His numbers are sorta high to be recommended for streaming this week, right? He's on the road against the Athletics and his road ERA is 1.86, WHIP of 0.93 with 16 strikeouts and a 2-1 record over 19.3 innings pitched. Oakland at home slashes a .270/.329/.403/.732 line with a strikeout rate of 14 percent with a wOBA of .330 and a wRC+ of 120. I'm running with De La Rosa on Tuesday.
Wednesday: Jesse Hahn Oakland Athletics: Over his past three starts Hahn has posted an ERA of 2.21, WHIP of 1.13 with 13 strikeouts, 7 walks and 2 bombs over 20.3 innings pitched. He's also 2-1 during those 3 starts. Good .274 BABIP with a 3.57 FIP and xFIP of 3.85. He's at home against the Rockies who have a 242/.287/.398/.685 road line with a strikeout rate of 21 percent to go along with a wOBA of .304 and a wRC+ of 89. Hahn could stuff the stats on Wednesday.
Thursday: Kyle Gibson Minnesota Twins: Over his past two starts Gibson has posted an ERA of 4.09, WHIP of 1.55 with 10 strikeouts, 5 walks and 1 bomb in 11 innings pitched. Gibson was 0-2 during these 2 starts. Impressive .273 BABIP with a 4.45 FIP and xFIP of 4.11. Gibson and the Twins are on the road against the Kansas City Royals on Thursday. The Royals have a .277/.327/.413/.740 home slash line with a 14 percent strikeout rate, wOBA of .301 and wRC+ of 85. It will be interesting but Gibson should handle the Royals on Thursday!
Position Players Waiver Wire Options for Week 13
Each of the options listed below are available in over 50 percent of all Major Fantasy Baseball leagues.
Wilin Rosario C 1B Colorado Rockies: Over the last 7 days Rosario has slashed a .471/.471/.706/1.117 line with 1 bomb, 3 RBI and 3 runs scored. Very good .181 ISO with a wOBA of .339 and wRC+ of 99 plus a .351 BABIP. He'll have a tough early week matchup with the Athletics and finishes the week on the road against the Diamondbacks.
Adam Lind 1B Milwaukee Brewers: Over the last 7 days Lind has posted a .450/.522/.750/1.272 slash line with 1 bomb, 3 RBI and 3 runs scored. Decent .330 BABIP, .197 ISO with a wOBA of .365 and wRC+ of 131. He has a terrific early away week matchup with the Phillies and finishes the week on the road against the Reds.
Luis Valbuena 2B 3B Houston Astros: Over the last 7 days Valbuena has slashed a .368/.520/.842/1.362 line with 3 bombs, 5 RBI and 4 runs scored. Super .253 ISO and not so super .178 BABIP to go along with a wOBA of .317 and wRC+ of 103. Two good matchups this week; Kansas City at home then a weekend road matchup in Fenway Park against the Red Sox.
Justin Turner 3B Los Angeles Dodgers: Over the last 7 days Turner has slashed a .227/.336/.727/1.073 line with 3 bombs, 7 RBI and 6 runs scored. Huge .253 ISO and .353 BABIP, wOBA of .414 and wRC+ of 170. Nice early week matchup on the road against Arizona and a bit tougher matchup on the weekend against the Mets.
Adeiny Hechavarria SS Miami Marlins: Over the past 7 days Hechavarria has slashed a .208/.296/.333/.629 line with 1 bomb, 3 RBI and 1 run scored. Low .111 ISO but a decent .330 BABIP, wOBA of .311 and wRC+ of 95. Good beginning of the week matchup with the Giants and good weekend matchup with the Cubs.
Curtis Granderson OF New York Mets: Over the past 7 days Granderson has slashed a .360/.467/.840/1.307 line with 4 bombs, 4 RBI, 1 stolen base and 5 runs scored. Great .187 ISO and about average .297 BABIP. wOBA of .341 and wRC+ of 121 are also nice to see. Good early week matchup at the Cubs and a tougher matchup against the Dodgers on the weekend.
Chris Coghlan OF Cubs: Over the last 7 days Coghlan has slashed a .238/.407/.333/.740 line with 2 runs scored and a stolen base. Very good .182 ISO and a tad low .280 BABIP. Good wOBA of .331 and wRC+ of 108. Coghlan has a decent matchup at the beginning of the week against the Mets and an excellent weekend matchup with the Marlins.
Good luck this week Fantasy Baseball Owner!